


The Act of Washing Clothing

by lastingdreams



Category: NewS (Band)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-11
Updated: 2010-10-11
Packaged: 2017-10-16 02:17:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/167345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lastingdreams/pseuds/lastingdreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Uchi and Massu at a Laundromat; that’s really all there is to it ^^</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Act of Washing Clothing

_**The Act of Washing Clothing**_  
 **Title:** The Act of Washing Clothing  
 **Group/pairing:** NEWS; Uchi and Massu  
 **Word Count:** 1,204  
 **Rating:** G  
 **Summary:** Uchi and Massu at a Laundromat; that’s really all there is to it ^^  
 **A/N:** Written with two prompts in mind:)  
  
 _Yokatta,_ he thinks as he approaches the cross walk. He grabs the large bag that he’s placed on the floor while waiting for the traffic lights to change. _The signs are still on, so the place must be open._

Uchi jogs towards the tiny doors underneath the “American Laundry” sign, hoping that he made it in time. A tiny jingle signals a customer’s entrance; the guy sitting at the main desk continues reading his magazine.

 _Must be a part-time worker._ Uchi thinks as he walks to the first row of washing machines, not really paying attention to anyone else in the room. He was tired from the commute from Osaka to Tokyo, and normally he wouldn’t mind, but it had been awhile since he’s travelled…he was grateful for this new exhaustion.

It took many months watching the rest of his friends and group mates continue on with their busy schedules and many more apologies before he could reach the place he was today. The soreness in his muscles was a welcome feeling of regaining some of those things. He was on Shounen Club just the other night, catching up with Koyama back stage and hoping that his voice wouldn’t go out during recording. The anxious atmosphere, the low hum of the audience, the dreaded butterflies before the show were feelings and moments he wouldn’t trade for the world. He had also gone back to doing magazine shoots too, and a fleeting thought came to him, _I wonder if that part timer reads magazines that I’ve been in. Are there still fans who would buy the magazines to see the recent me?_

“Uchi…kun?” A familiar voice shakes him out of reverie.

He turns around to look at the sturdy figure, clad in a star-patterned shirt and green baggy sweatpants, and even before he says anything, he threw his arms around him.

“Masuda!”

Massu gives out his ‘uhhuhuh” laugh, which sounds unenthusiastic at first, but something only his friends get to hear.

Massu hugs Uchi’s frame lightly, pats him on the back a few times, and draws back. “You’ve finally got some meat on you.”

“You too,” Uchi laughs (It’s good to see you smile/yea?/yea), “What are you doing here?”

“Doing laundry, why?”

Uchi chuckles, remembering just how ‘different’ Massu was from the others. “No, I know that. I mean, don’t you have a washing machine at home?”

“It broke.”

“That makes sense.”

“Yea. So, you’re in town for a few more days?”

“Yep. Johnny-san has some new projects for me. They’re small compared to what you’re doing, but it’s something.” Uchi smiles.

“Ahh--Oh! Let me get my laundry out for a sec. Chotto matte ne.” Massu says bouncing over to his machine across the room.

Uchi shakes his head, “Always so hyper, that kid.”  
He tosses his pile into the machine and drops the coins in. He’s about to press the ‘start’ button when he realizes that he doesn’t have detergent. He’s about to head to the counter to buy some when a hand stops him. Of course, it’s Massu again, offering his bottle to him.  
“Thanks,” Uchi smiles again. He hasn’t smiled so much in a long time now. It almost hurts; he’s not used to it.

He pushes the thought aside when Massu walks over and sits on one of the machines, watching Uchi’s laundry tumble and slosh around in one of the vertical machines.

Uchi follows his example. They sit in a comfortable silence just staring at the wash cycle. He had never been one to mind silences, never thought they were awkward, because there was nothing being said to make it awkward. He felt that being in the presence of another person, just being in that moment, whether silent or full of talk, was still precious. The atmosphere surrounding two people didn’t matter as long as they were friends. Uchi felt like Massu understood this as well. It didn’t matter that they were sitting in a tiny Laundromat, late at night waiting for laundry to finish, it just mattered that they were together.

“You looked cool on Shounen Club.” Massu suddenly blurts out.

“Ah, thank you.” Uchi bows slightly by habit and then says, “What’s new with you?”

“I’ve been hanging around with Nakamaru-kun a lot due to our shooting of Rescue. Have you seen it?”

“Yea. I try and catch everyone’s new stuff.”

“Hmm, Yamashita-kun’s new drama is pretty cool too.”

“Speaking of which, you must be exhausted from touring all over the place. Why are you still up? If I recall, you go to sleep early so you can wake up early to eat a refined breakfast. That still true?”

Massu nods and adds, “But I still had laundry and I don’t have time tomorrow. I don’t like being rushed, so I just did it tonight.” After a beat he asks, “Oh, you aren’t staying with Nishikido-kun?”

“I am, but he’s asleep. I didn’t want to wake him with my laundry, so I came here instead.”

“Ma—that’s sort of troublesome, but very kind of you,” Massu says.

Such mundane talk would have bored most people; if you didn’t know better, you would have thought this was just another conversation between two regular guys and not idols.

Uchi’s mind wanders again until a light beep from the opposite side of the room sounds. Massu takes the cue and walks over to grab his dry clothes out. Uchi glances at the back of the store, the clock there displaying the time as 9:30.

Massu returns with his finished basket and returns to his seat next to Uchi.

“Shouldn’t you be going home now?”

“Yea.” He doesn’t move an inch. “Hey, maybe when you have time, we could grab something to eat?”

“Shouldn’t I be the one who’s conscious about _your_ schedule?” Uchi asks, chuckling.

“Yes, but right now, I’m being conscious of _your_ schedule. You have one too, don’t you?” Massu says without looking away from the machine in front of him, grinning.

Uchi hits him in the arm. “I’ll mail you then.”

Massu jumps off the machine then. “Ja, I have to go, but I’m off for a week before the next tour date, so see ya later.”

Uchi waves, “Oyasumi.”

Massu walks out the door with his laundry basket in hand.

Uchi shakes his head again, then notices that Massu has left his detergent for him to use. He was about to run out and catch him, but his friend was already nowhere in sight.  
\--------------------  
The next time they bump into each other, it’s deliberate. They had settled on meeting again at the same Laundromat, because it was nice and quiet there at night.  
Soon, their conversation turned into familiar banter.

“Okay, if you're a breast man, then why aren't you dating Yamapi?” Uchi dead pans.

Massu quirks his head to the left as if truly contemplating it, “Ma—it would be weird if I did, ne.”

“I was just joking,” Uchi breaks into a high-pitched laugh and slaps his knee. “But, if you think about it, he’s got some pretty good ones.”

“Not really.” Massu dead pans as well, although Uchi can’t tell if he’s being serious this time.

“Let’s get some ramen after this.”  
 **A/N:** Ok, so my apologies for such a random fic ^^;  
This quotation from Subaru spurred me to write this, even though I don’t know Uchi at all:  
 _Uchi is a person you wouldn't mind being together, even if it’s just the two of you.  
I am basically a person, who can't get along with people easily even with little kids, I don't know how to deal with them and I have trouble. But somehow, Uchi is fine with it. Even if we don't talk to each other, we can just be together for many hours. I wonder myself too. What is he, actually? (laugh)_

I’m hoping I have some sort of intuition or ESP concerning Uchi, enough that I’ve made his character even remotely anything like him. Also, I don’t know where they live, but for the sake of this fic, let’s pretend it’s all pretty close:P

The original prompt from [](http://community.livejournal.com/je_box_project/profile)[**je_box_project**](http://community.livejournal.com/je_box_project/) 's [je random pair generator](http://snorfleorphagus.webs.com/jpoprandomgenerator.htm), was this: _Uchi/Massu/if you're a breast man, then why aren't you dating Yamapi?_  
I think I got it from [](http://godsgirl7.livejournal.com/profile)[**godsgirl7**](http://godsgirl7.livejournal.com/) , and I was going to write this ages ago, but here it is now ^^  
I hope you liked this; comments/criticism are always welcome:P


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